Militant moderate, unwilling to concede any longer the terms of debate to the strident ideologues on the fringe. If you are a Democrat or a Republican, you're an ideologue. If you're a "moderate" who votes a nearly straight party-ticket, you're still an ideologue, but you at least have the decency to be ashamed of your ideology. ...and you're lying in the meantime.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

War of Words

Article Synopsis: Our sun is emerging from the quiet period of its 11-year cycle with major solar flares, some of which have been accompanied by coronal mass ejections. This is the star juice that, when it hits earth or, more likely, our satellites in orbit, wreaks havoc on our electronic gizmos. They also make pretty northern lights. The flare on Monday was an M5, while the one Tuesday was a larger X2.1 with a CME heading to Earth. In August an X6.9 occurred but the coronal mass was ejected the wrong direction to make cell phones useless. This cycle’s peak is two years off.

Science in a vacuum: There isn’t a single mention in the article that changes in solar radiation affect the climate far more directly and far more powerfully than human activity, nor that the current solar cycle’s minimum coincided with the recent spate of Global Warming non-warming ... which also curiously coincided with the spate of Global Warming scientists inventing data to make their notions look good when the real data didn’t support it.

Not that every article needs to be given a gloss for the politicized science du jour, but ... many already are, particularly when the theme of the news article can be rendered into another scold that mankind has the power and ability and callous disregard of the planet to burn it to the cinder that 5 billion years of cosmic maelstrom could not manage to accomplish on its own. The net result of this subtle suasion is that the general public, which is scientifically illiterate to start with, comes away with the idea that everything mankind does creates Global Warming, and that nothing in the rest of the universe contributes to it or – Gaia forbid! – counteracts it.

And when the data is having the troubles it’s been having these last several years to prop up the idea at all, what we’re doing is making the general public less knowledgeable than they already were by giving them a one-sided simple answer. Simple answers are often simplistic. And ultimately useless when they are.

Conclusion: The ghost of science-whore Stephen Schneider comes back to haunt: “...we need to get some broad-based support, to capture the public's imagination ... loads of media coverage. ...we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have...”. Enjoy your rest in hell, Steve; you’ve earned it.

Headline: NM to Have Tech Ghost Town

Article Synopsis: A high tech company is going to build a small city in New Mexico for $200 million, of a size to hold 35,000 residents, and it will remain empty. It will be used as a testing platform for technological innovation in a ‘real world’ environment. Of specific mention is the testing of “green technology” solutions. It will make money by subleasing office space, selling power to the grid, and renting the city to other industries’ testing needs. The area between Las Cruces and El Paso is being considered for the building site.

Case in point: “Green technology” is touted as the “solution” to Global Warming and this article contains the subtle scold mentioned above. Yet “green tech” solutions are going bankrupt left and right. The darling of Obama’s Reinvestment and Recovery Act, for example, filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago, less than a year after getting a nine-figure federal grant to build solar panels.

Chinese solar panels are cheaper and it couldn’t compete.

But this project will be different! If, for no other reason, than because when it goes bankrupt it will leave the homes and businesses of a small city of 35,000 just sitting there in the desert waiting to be used.

Conclusion: Border-hoppers take note: There will be a fenced-in city pre-built for your latter-day underground railroad within a night’s hike from Juarez. The fences will discourage the prying eyes of law enforcement – which are notably near-sighted to begin with – and the office buildings in town can serve as headquarters for whatever cash-only economy serves your interests. Hola y bienvenidos!

Headline: Video Game Targets Tea Party, Foxnews

Article Synopsis: Another liberal entry into the New Era of Civility is a video game entitled “Tea Party Zombies Must Die” in which digital death is dealt to Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Sean Hannity, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and someone named “Factory Made Blonde Foxnews Barbie”. ...to name a few. This is the third such game by this computer-whiz, Jason Oda. In 2008 he made “Kung Fu Election” where Democrat candidates used martial arts weapons and moves to eliminate Republican candidates; in 2004 he made “Bushgame” in which the gamer would pick his 80s TV character persona to battle Bush Administration foes. Huckabee was flattered [and amused] to be digitized but notes the liberal hypocrisy.

So’s yer mother!: As compellingly creative – by which I mean trite and hackneyed – as it may be to satirize political opponents as goons and monsters it is just what Huckabee said it was: unadulterated hypocrisy. Democrat Congressman Giffords was gunned down in AZ earlier this year, and the left couldn’t wait to blame the “violent rhetoric” of the right for inspiring it. When asked what “violent rhetoric” that was, the left pointed to a map of the US showing targets on “key congressional districts” where the Democrats were seen as vulnerable in the midterm elections. The gunman turned out to be an a-political whackjob.

Never mind that Democrats had the same style map in ’08, ’06 and ’04. And probably ’02 as well.

The Tea Party is constantly being accused of racism and inciting violence; when asked for specifics, the accusers point at pictures of Obama as Stalin carried and displayed at Tea Party gatherings and other unflattering characterizations.

Never mind that Bush was shown for seven of his eight years as Hitler ... and with a rifle scope superimposed on his face. Everyone is caricatured as Hitler at one point or another – it’s boring and predictable and shows the imagination of a parrot. “Darth Cheney” was, on the other hand, a very clever satire, conspicuous by its lonesomeness among liberal swipes.

There is virtually no support to the notion that the Tea Party systematically endorses violence, racism, or even hyperbolic smack-talk; to the degree the Tea Party can be shown as being rude, they are no more rude, and usually considerably less, than those who are screaming at them. Yet Democrats have consistently – and it’s becoming constantly – described the Tea Party as “the enemy” [B Obama] who can “go straight to hell” [M Waters], presumably after they are “taken out” [J Hoffa, below]; “Tea Party Zombies Must Die” is the training simulator, it would appear.

Conclusion: Anyone who makes me to write the name “Huckabee” four times, let alone agree with him, in order to do justice to a news article criticizing him can only be politely described as an ass hole of the highest order. Mr Oda, you have far too much time on your hands and far too little to occupy your mind. I don’t often consider this to be terribly practical advice for anyone, but for you it may prove productive: try masturbation.

Headline: Hoffa Stands By ‘S.O.B.’

Article Synopsis: A Labor Day rally in Detroit featured an appearance by the National Savior; he was introduced to the crowd by Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa [not that Jimmy Hoffa – his son] who declared that the Tea Party was to blame for everything wrong, and the unions need to “take those sons of bitches out”. The New Era of Civility has not inspired Hoffa to apologize, nor does anyone in the Teamsters Union suggest he should. The Tea Party vigorously disapproves of the comments, which Hoffa, the next day, expanded upon. A Whitehouse spokesman said, “Hey! Don’t look at me” for Obama.

Thou dost protest too much, by half: Hoffa is merely standing up for “all American Workers”, who are tired of “seeing good American jobs shipped overseas”. “It’s about jobs and rebuilding America”, Hoffa declared the next day.

And that’s perfectly reasonable. I don’t blame union laborers for one second for despairing of the American jobs being shipped overseas. And I don’t blame union leaders for wanting to voice that despair. [And having already covered the violent anti-Tea Party imagery of a liberal’s psychosis I’m going to concentrate on Hoffa’s other psychoses].

I would prefer, though, that the voice of despair, not to mention the despair itself, be somewhat more rational and introspective than has ever been seen coming out of the unions. A large part of the reason that those jobs are being shipped overseas is because the cost of American labor is too high. That is a direct result of the actions of unions. ...as unions continually inform non-union people every time the non-union people criticize unions as being out of touch or outliving their usefulness.

The scripted union response to criticism is to say, “If you have a living wage? thank unions. If you like the 40 hour work week? thank unions. If you like health benefits? thank unions. If you like safe working conditions? thank unions.” Et cetera.

The major problem with this is that ... no, there are too many problems with this line of thought [sic], all of which are nullifying, for just one to be singled out as a “major problem”. Of the several problems with this inane horseshit is that:1] unions only secured benefits for themselves, the primarily unskilled labor force2] no one else was subjected to the conditions that unskilled labor was subjected to for unions to have indirectly benefitted non-union labor3] all of these benefits are now a matter of law and have been for between 60 and 90 years4] which means that if unions went away tomorrow the 9% of American workers who are in a union would notice nothing different except that they don’t pay union dues any longer and they also don’t have Democrats fawning all over them5] and it was all accomplished – not to belabor the point – between 60 and 90 years ago anyway, and the question “What have you done for me lately” is most honestly and accurately answered by “Not a god damned thing ... why do you ask?”

It is noble for Hoffa to want to want to rebuild America. And I would imagine that he’s not talking about the nothing-town in New Mexico for testing “green” “solutions” that are cheaper to make in China anyway, and so that’s where the jobs are.

The jobs are in China because of union labor at this point. If you want to rebuild America, then you need to pull those jobs back. There’s a reason that kids with no high school diploma can get a job in a union and make more than a putz with an MBA. And there’s a reason that the trained apes of TSA who don’t need education to do their job want to form a union.

Conclusion: Union labor, hire thyself. And take a long look in the mirror, while you’re at it. You have met the enemy and it is your political philosophy. Liberals are the only sons of bitches you should be worrying about for the foreseeable future.